Feature
William D. Rhodes’ granddaughter and great-grandchildren arrived on Guam carrying more than suitcases. Tucked carefully among their belongings were black-and-white photographs from the 1930s, images taken when their great-grandparents Grady and Gedie Rhodes lived on the island.
Nearly a century later, those photographs have become a guide. Kristin Surratt— now living on Guam with her husband, Will Surratt, and children, Athan and Carter— has been retracing the steps to her family’ s past, visiting the places captured in those aging prints and sharing the journey with her grandfather, whom she fondly calls“ Pop-Pop.”
“ I felt genuinely excited— excited to journey around the island, uncover its history alongside my own family’ s story and capture every adventure so my Pop-Pop could experience it with me,” Surratt said.
Surratt’ s grandfather, William D. Rhodes, was born on Guam in 1937, one year after his father, a Navy officer, was deployed on island. William was two when his family left Guam in 1939 after his father’ s deployment ended in 1939.
William Rhodes, who now lives in Georgia, has never been able to revisit Guam but his descendants are now living out something he long hoped for: reconnecting with the island that shaped his earliest years.
Surratt said seeing Guam through the lens of family history has changed how she experiences everyday life on island.“ I imagine my great-grandparents’ experience of Guam in 1937 was quite different from my own,” she said.“ I often think about how difficult it must have been for them to live so far from family, unable to communicate with loved ones the way we can today.”
One photograph from that era always stood out in her family. It showed her great-aunt Melba riding a carabao, an image that fascinated later generations who had never encountered anything like it.“ So when we arrived on Guam, one of the first things we did was visit CHamoru Village, where both of my sons rode their first carabao,” Surratt said.“ Of course, I took pictures and sent them to my Pop-Pop right away.”
Other photographs have led the family deeper into Guam’ s landscape. Shortly after arriving, Surratt and her husband bought a hiking guide,“ The Best Tracks on Guam.” One trail in particular caught her attention: Libugon, home to a former Navy radio station. The site had been decommissioned in 1932 and reestablished two years later as a secret radio intercept station used to monitor Japanese communications. That detail resonated. Surratt’ s great-grandfather, Grady Rhodes, served as a radioman during the period her family lived on Guam.
“ I called my Pop-Pop and asked whether Grandaddy had worked there,” she said.“ He wasn’ t completely sure, but said it was extremely likely.”
The family drove out that same day. What they
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A circle closes across generations
Granddaughter retraces family’ s 1930s Guam history through photographs
found was sparse: concrete slabs and an old antenna lying on the ground.“ Still, that day I felt an especially strong connection to my family and our history here on Guam,” she said.
For Surratt, the journey is as much about people as it is about places. She carries her grandfather’ s photographs with her, often showing them to residents she meets along the way.“ Sharing these photos with
By Ron Rocky Coloma
people we meet around the island has been especially meaningful,” she said.
Those conversations have sparked a deeper interest in Guam’ s broader history. Surratt said her grandfather once wrote a short book about his father’ s naval career, which she reread after moving to the island.“ One particularly interesting detail was that my great-grandfather was relieved of his duty on Guam by George Ray Tweed,” she said, referring to one of the few American servicemen who evaded capture during the Japanese occupation of Guam in World War II.
“ Being here deepened my curiosity and left me wanting to learn even more – not only about my family’ s history, but about Guam’ s history as well,” she said.
That curiosity has become a shared family experience. Surratt said her husband and children have embraced the journey, often talking about how life on Guam today compares with life in the 1930s.“ There have been countless meaningful conversations in our household as we journey to different sites around the island,” she said.
Just as her great-grandparents formed lasting friendships with the local community, Surratt and her family are doing the same.“ I can hardly put into words what it means for this journey to come full circle,” she said.“ Being able to experience life on the island where my Pop-Pop was born feels like an incredible gift.”
Her grandfather will turn 89 in May. While he cannot make the trip himself, Surratt said he follows along closely through calls, texts, photos and videos.“ I feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to share my journey on Guam with him,” she said.“ Although he has never been able to return for a visit, I know he enjoys hearing about our life on the island.”
For now, she continues walking Guam with old photographs in hand, helping ensure that a family story begun decades ago is not only remembered, but lived again.